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BMW claims the 3 sedan is a sports sedan. That doesn't hold true in the 'worst iteration of the F30'.

The problem is, in order for it to be that 'affordable sports sedan'. You'll need to tack on some options. Shouldn't the 3er be naturally sporty from the factory? That IS what the 3er was known for.

"Sports sedan" today means something quite different from what it used to mean. Today's F30 is the five series of yore; it'll take a new, smaller sedan to fill in the notch left by the E46 and E90.

These new mid-sized German "sports sedans" are designed to appeal to larger demographics - thanks to attractive leasing, that's mainly women and older people upgrading from Honda Accords - people quite unlike posters here who regale us with idiotic street-racing stories and "my car handles on rails" expositions while commuting to and from the office park at an average speed of 25 mph.

Your completely unobjective and hyperbolic "review" ignores the intent of the car and the market reality in which it lives - it's no longer the year 2000, and times, they are a changin'.

Specs:
Back seats seem a little cramped compared to the E9x generation. My 5'12 friend use to fit in my e92 328xi and my e92 M3 with no problems, his head hits the ceiling in the F30. Leg room is also a bit cramped for him, which is weird because it was not an issue in my e92's. Interior materials are nice, the car has 2,300 miles on it and you can hear rattles here and there already. Overall, for the price of the car, it's nice.

5'12"? Don't you mean 6'. I am 6'3", and in my f30 my head comes nowhere near the ceiling - front or back seats...and I have moonroof. On top of that, if your friend fit comfortably in an e92, there is no way he can't fit in an f30...the f30 is almost the size of the old 5 series. It's much bigger than the e92. People who sit in the back of my f30 are much happier (leg-room wise) than they were in my e90

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Exterior: I'm not a huge fan of how the F3x generation really looks. The kidney grilles meeting with the lights I think looks ugly and the rear end bulges out too much. The front of the car is too long, you never really have a sense of where it is. You can't see behind the car because the rear end is out there. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder though.

Looks are definitely a preference thing. For me, I'm not a fan of the side view mirrors (miss the oval ones) and not a fan of where the hood line meets the front of the car. It looks odd..

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Suspension: HORRIBLE. If we were grading from 1 to 10(1 being worst, 10 being best) it would get a -20. The car rolls like crazy! It rolls changing lanes, it rolls through corners, and it rolls turning. The smallest bumps will upset the chassis in corners. I don't know what BMW was thinking when they designed this chassis, but it's pitiful, and it's no where near BMW levels of confidence inspiring. It's a joke. The M sport suspension is suppose to make this better, but having this as your base suspension, putting in a rebadged Toyota's suspension would be better then what's currently on it. Extremely disappointed in this department.

My biggest complaint is the suspension. They made it way too loose. Then to charge an extra $1000 to be able to make it tighter is ridiculous. I haven't done a crazy amount of hard turns, but there was one or two where the car lost (a tiny bit) some traction. In an x-drive I was surprised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Electronics: Garbage. The new voice activation thing is just as bad as the suspension. Every time I say 'Phonebook' and then when I say 'Home' it will randomly pick a name out of my phonebook and say 'Did you mean xxxx?'. My e92's were both PERFECT each and every time. I don't understand why this system is so retarded and why it doesn't understand what 'Home' is.

I haven't used the voice option yet. Maybe I will down the road. It was never something I liked. I do like the hover over feature on the buttons. Not too happy that I can't move the buttons down. So if I want to move #2,3, 4 to #3, 4, 5 so I can insert a new number 2...it's a pain in the behind. Same thing with the radio station (i prefer ascending sort)

I get to drive lots of Toyota's (unfortunately) and I've also driven the new 320i for extended periods. Anyone who thinks the 320i feels anything like a Toyota is out to lunch or is just exaggerating for the sake of.

I am fortunately enough to have driven a Toyota Celica for 15 years. I didn't know what body lean is until I got my 328i. I guess you can't fight physics - there is so much you can do with a car that is 900lb heavier and 6 inches taller.

"Sports sedan" today means something quite different from what it used to mean. Today's F30 is the five series of yore; it'll take a new, smaller sedan to fill in the notch left by the E46 and E90.

These new mid-sized German "sports sedans" are designed to appeal to larger demographics - thanks to attractive leasing, that's mainly women and older people upgrading from Honda Accords - people quite unlike posters here who regale us with idiotic street-racing stories and "my car handles on rails" expositions while commuting to and from the office park at an average speed of 25 mph.

Your completely unobjective and hyperbolic "review" ignores the intent of the car and the market reality in which it lives - it's no longer the year 2000, and times, they are a changin'.

As has been mentioned in this thread already, it all boils down to which suspension is selected. I personally prefer the M sport suspension in the F30 to the e90 in 'real world' driving for one simple reason - our public roads and streets suck and are in deplorable condition. I'd take the E90 suspension on a long smooth stretch of country back road with smooth tarmac, but otherwise, the current gen is far more comfortable and still performs well.

I leased a 320i ZSP because it was dirt cheap and I have car ADD, rarely keeping cars longer than 3 years, I wanted an auto this time vs. the manuals I've always had and the 8spd is a massive improvement over the 6, so here I am. I live in an area of L.A. where there are a ton of backroads and mountain roads at my disposal; namely Angeles Crest Highway and Big Tujunga road. These are excellent mountain roads for driving and not for the faint of heart in some stretches and the F30 holds it's own. The handling and composure is excellent.

But I agree that they have to sell cars and as I've said before, the vast majority of 320 and 328's I see are no lines on 17"s with the standard suspension because yes, most people only drive the car to and from their office jobs in rush hour going 25MPH. Due to my schedule, line of work and location, that doesn't pertain to me.